This dresser was a Craigslist bargain find! Every once in a while there is a piece of furniture that pops up on Craigslist that you just know has the potential to be a really cool project, and this was one of them. Before this dresser we had never worked on a waterfall dresser, but after this one we will be open to doing many more.
This dresser was in pretty good shape, but there were definitely a few things that we knew would have to be corrected before it was ready for a new home. Almost all art deco waterfall pieces of furniture feature a lot of cool looking veneers, however, over time these veneers will chip away and come apart. Being that this dresser was between 80 to 90 years of age, there were definitely a few veneer issues. So just like every project we had to decide what would be the focal point of the dresser. Luckily, the veneer on the top drawer of the dresser was in perfect condition, so it became an easy decision, the top drawer would become the focal point of the dresser.
We used the following supplies on this dresser:
The first step is to remove the original finish from the dresser, so we turn to our preferred paint stripper, CitriStrip. We use a cheap paintbrush to apply the CitriStrip, and then we let it sit for a while. You will be able to tell when it starts to work because it will start to appear dry. After letting it sit for a while (on this project we let it sit for a couple of hours) we will use a scraper and scrape off the original finish. Sometimes you might need to use a little muscle to get the paint off. As we noted above, it is important that you ensure that all of the CitriStrip is removed, or it could affect your finish later on.
After we stripped the dresser, we still needed to sand it down. We started with our orbital sander using an 80 grit sandpaper. Then we hand sanded with a 120 grit sandpaper. This process seems to be extremely effective in putting the dresser in its bare bones state.
Once sanding is complete, don't forget to vacuum out and wash off the dust. You don't want to get dust particles in your tape, paint, or stain.
After we sanded the dresser down, we made sure to tape the inside of the of the body and the inside of the drawers. It is always important to remember to tape the inside of the body where the drawers will slide in and out of. We will admit that this is not a necessary step, but if you want to have a re-purposed dresser that looks professional grade, then every detail matters.
Some of the veneer on the dresser was chipped, so we used wood filler to fix the chips before we painted.
After the wood filler was sanded down we stained the outside pieces of the dresser and the top drawer with cherry stain. This is actually backwards from how we usually do stain on areas that are close to the areas that will be painted, but we needed to see how all of the areas would take the stain before we could finalize the our design for the dresser.
After the wood filler was applied and sanded down, we applied a coat of primer to the areas of the dresser that would be painted. Once the primer dried we painted the dresser and the drawers that needed to be painted.
We were very excited for how this dresser turned out and are now looking for a new art deco waterfall dresser to work on!
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AuthorsJosh and Sydney are life adventurers that love to learn and create. We are exact opposites and enjoy gaining new perspective. Our home is where our varying personalities shine, and we use it to gather our friends and family together. Archives
November 2017
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